Ryan was driving to work at 8:30am this morning. He was on 5600 West and in the intersection of 5400 South preparing for a left hand turn. He saw this car merge over into the "designated" "right hand turn only" lane going right. So Ryan began to turn left slowly thinking the girl was going to merge into the inside lane and Ryan was going to merge into the outside lane. Then all of a sudden Ryan notices that the girl is no longer turning right and is heading straight for him, and that's when Ryan gets T-boned at 30 MPH. His bike was thrown further into the intersection and he was tossed up onto the hood of the car. Once he was on the hood of the car that's when the girl hit her brakes sending Ryan flying 10 yards off her car. Ryan told me he got up and was limping a bit and everyone came rushing over to him asking him if he was ok. There were people stopping traffic, telling Ryan to sit down, but Ryan was too worried about finding a witness...which he did thank heavens. Turns out the girl was preparing to turn right until her "back-seat-driver" mom told her to go straight. So she made an improper lane change hitting Ryan. So instead of going right she continued going straight. She got a ticket and so did Ryan. We are both dumbfounded that Ryan got a ticket. The police officer said that in Utah you have to yield to people making right hand turns. WHAT?!! Ok, I understand that law if the lane you are driving in is a lane you can go straight through or make a right hand turn, but not a "designated" right hand turn!!! So I think we are going to try to fight it. Ryan was taken away from the scene in a ambulance to Pioneer Valley Hospital.
Another strange thing is...every morning I know Ryan is riding his motorcycle I get to work and I look at the clock between (9:00-9:15 thinking ok, I haven't heard from Ryan so I know he made it safe to his internship out in Saratoga Springs. Well no different today...9:00...few...he's safe. Then 9:18 comes around and my cell phone rings and I see Ryan's face on my screen. I start thinking maybe he forgot something because today was his last day at his internship in Saratoga Springs. Then I thought, oh no, he got into an accident. So I answered and he said hello hunny, and I said hi, what's up. He said I've been in an accident, but I'm ok. The first words that came out of my mouth was...were you on your motorcycle? He replied yes, but I'm ok. He told me what happened and that he was at Pioneer Valley Hospital just 5-10 minutes from my work. I held it together for a moment, but then I started balling because the thing I feared most about Ryan having a motorcycle had come true. Everyone at my work came rushing over gave me tons of support and hugs and said go see your husband. My manager and co-employees are so awesome! I sat down for a couple minutes taking a few deep breaths to calm my self down for the drive over to the hospital. Once at the hospital I walked into the room Ryan was in and saw him sitting in a bed and I walked over to him crying and gave him a big hug. We both began to cry realizing how amazing it was that he was alive and doing ok. I asked him what hurt and he said his left quad, his left ankle was swollen, his right foot had a little bruise from the car hitting him and the road rash on his right arm. That is all! Thank heavens he was wearing his helmet and we still can't figure out how is right leg wasn't crushed between his motorcycle and the car when the car hit him. It truly is a miracle that nothing serious happened to him, and I believe someone was watching out for him. The only reason he got the road rash was from being launched from the car and Ryan usually wears his safety jacket, but it was going to be 98 degrees today and those jackets aren't very breathable.
Right now I have mixed feelings about Ryan getting another motorcycle. I know he wants another one, but I'm a little sick about it. All I know is that I'm happy the love of my life is safe and with me tonight. Right now, that's all that matters to me! :) These pictures are taken minutes after Ryan was released from the hospital. We went over to the junk yard to pick up his motorcycle. Thank heavens for his brother Ron and his girlfriend Emily came to help us get the motorcycle. These pictures don't do justice. You can't really see the detail of the damage on to the motorcycle. I took pictures this evening showing closeups of the damage that I will post. For now it's been a long day and I am tired!
